Cecilia ‘Dolly’ Mischel Boarman has finally received her scroll for her course in education which she started when she was 40 in 1957.
But she had to leave Brescia University, Kentucky, before she finished her studies.
Now, Dolly has been awarded an Associate of Arts Honoris Casua, an honorary degree, and she’s pretty chuffed about it.
I am so thrilled to finally get a diploma after all these years
According to the Messenger-Inquirer, she is now Brescia University’s oldest living alumna.
The university found out about Dolly’s degree when Tracy Naylor, the school’s Vice President for Institutional Advancement, was told by Dolly’s daughter.
The pair were arranging a visit with alumni when Jovita Boarman Fine said she had taken classes with her mother, who lives with her in Prescott, Arizona.
Naylor then asked Cheryl Clemons, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, if she could surprise Dolly with a degree during her Arizona visit.
She told reporters : ‘It was one of the best things I’ve had the opportunity (of doing) during my career.’
Dolly graduated from high school in 1931. Completing enough credits at Brescia to teach, she was a full-time teacher in the Catholic school system before retiring and working as a substitute.
Jovita said the degree has excited the entire family.
She said: ‘We’ve been telling everybody about it. It was really nice of them to do it.’
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